northeast-flora-and-fauna

A couple days ago I showed a male Calico Pennant ; later in the day I got this picture of a female Calico Pennant . This is yet another species that shows sexual dimorphism, in this case with the coloring clearly distinguishing the males from the females. In some cases this means flashy, colorful males and drab, subdued coloring in the females. While the female Calico Pennants aren't as eye-catching as their red male counterparts, you could argue that the yellowish-gold coloring of the females is also fairly good-looking. The markings (wing spots, stigmas, thorax/abdomen patterns) are extremely similar between the males and the females; the color difference is the easiest way to tell them apart. Incidentally, the stigmas (in this case the yellow patch near the end of the wings) weigh more than most of the wing, and can function as a vibration dampener on the fast-flapping wings. June 17, 2021 at the Plainsboro Preserve Photo 141958682, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-N...

Here's (presumably) a Calico Pennant that I met back in June. It's got a lot of Calico Pennant characteristics: A black abdomen with red marks on it. A reddish face. Mostly veiny wings with light red stigmas near the end of the wings. And maybe most important, near the base of the rear wings there is an amber spot surrounded by a darker brown spot. But it does have a couple characteristics I don't usually see in a Calico Pennant. Mostly I would have expected to see brown areas at the end of each wing. The almost complete absence of these brown spots is unusual in a Calico. Normally I'd wonder if this was a young Calico, and the wing ends would brown up as it gets older, but a young Calico is supposed to have a yellow face.  So while I'm fairly sure this is a Calico Pennant, I have to admit that this isn't quite a classic look for them. June 17, 2021 at the Plainsboro Preserve Photo 141958221, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)